March 20, 2018

Dodge City

Well, without going into the details of history of Dodge City there are a few things that are obvious.

It didn’t start a second civil war.

The nation survived and prospered.

Additional territories became states.

It didn’t terrorize people so badly that they couldn’t bear to watch a romanticized Hollywood version.

Even if you get the entire history of Dodge City wrong and misrepresent it today, it’s irrelevant to today’s politics.

So that’s my initial take. Let me give you an additional take based on my personal opinion and experience.

I have long been an advocate of a punch in the nose. I was a big brother in the neighborhood and I believed in a fair fight. So if two kids had exchanged fighting words, it was up to me and other big brothers to let a fair fight happen. This is generally known as chivalry, it is an etiquette between men that allows them to settle their differences with honorable combat.

Today in America, a business, or a school can be sued into bankruptcy over an insult. Here on Quora, thousands of people ask countless variations of the same ‘is this racist’ question seeking public affirmation of a principle that has nothing to do with them.

So I assert this. If men would fight with honor it would settle matters between them without the necessity for thousands of journalists and citizens get embroiled into a controversy. We have become a nation of busybodies thinking that we can insert our opinion and votes into every issue under the sun. None of it is our business. It is a complete and total waste. People cannot take a punch, shutup and say “I quit, you win.” Instead we try to march and get millions of other people invested in our business, with the hope that the ultimate government or social power will be on our side. So we are on the road to becoming dependent on everybody but ourselves to resolve our disputes. This is the way of children. I repeat, this is the way of children.

Would you lose a fistfight or lose a lawsuit? Think about the impact on society.

I’m not suggesting that every dispute can be solved on the field of honor, or that trial by combat is always appropriate. I’m saying that there is an entire class of disputes that could be, but are instead played out in the media and the ‘court of public opinion’ that weakens our society and absolves people of personal responsibility for their conduct so they can become celebrity victims. That cycle has nothing to do with courage, justice or any other virtue. We are a weaker society because of it.

Now swing back to guns.

Here in Quora, you have the good fortune to hear directly from a class of individuals who understand the honor of combat, whether in service to their communities or nation or in defense of their own personal dignity, property and life. You will find in them a comprehensive understanding of what is a fair fight under the rule of law and what rules of engagement are when the rule of law is lost. This is an education that our life experience has failed to teach many of us. I am fortunate to have learned this way of the world.

If you haven’t learned these levels of escalation, you most likely associate, like Hollywood films instruct, that the cleaning or racking the slide of a pistol is a sign of irrevocable deadly intent. All I can tell you is that it is nowhere near so simple. Just like cracking a book does not have the same impact on every individual, possessing a firearm does not either. A scholar can tell a scholar. A fighter can tell a fighter.

Whether or not people choose to acknowledge it, there is a sizeable fraction of this country that possesses the virtue of courage and the discipline to engage properly to insure justice and the wisdom to know how to escalate disputes under the rule of law. If these are all new phrases to you, then I suggest you find a way to educate yourself in such matters. Human disputes are inevitable. It’s not about the gun. It’s about the mind. Admit you’ve not thought about it.

Comments

Well, without going into the details of history of Dodge City there are a few things that are obvious.

It didn’t start a second civil war.

The nation survived and prospered.

Additional territories became states.

It didn’t terrorize people so badly that they couldn’t bear to watch a romanticized Hollywood version.

Even if you get the entire history of Dodge City wrong and misrepresent it today, it’s irrelevant to today’s politics.

So that’s my initial take. Let me give you an additional take based on my personal opinion and experience.

I have long been an advocate of a punch in the nose. I was a big brother in the neighborhood and I believed in a fair fight. So if two kids had exchanged fighting words, it was up to me and other big brothers to let a fair fight happen. This is generally known as chivalry, it is an etiquette between men that allows them to settle their differences with honorable combat.

Today in America, a business, or a school can be sued into bankruptcy over an insult. Here on Quora, thousands of people ask countless variations of the same ‘is this racist’ question seeking public affirmation of a principle that has nothing to do with them.

So I assert this. If men would fight with honor it would settle matters between them without the necessity for thousands of journalists and citizens get embroiled into a controversy. We have become a nation of busybodies thinking that we can insert our opinion and votes into every issue under the sun. None of it is our business. It is a complete and total waste. People cannot take a punch, shutup and say “I quit, you win.” Instead we try to march and get millions of other people invested in our business, with the hope that the ultimate government or social power will be on our side. So we are on the road to becoming dependent on everybody but ourselves to resolve our disputes. This is the way of children. I repeat, this is the way of children.

Would you lose a fistfight or lose a lawsuit? Think about the impact on society.

I’m not suggesting that every dispute can be solved on the field of honor, or that trial by combat is always appropriate. I’m saying that there is an entire class of disputes that could be, but are instead played out in the media and the ‘court of public opinion’ that weakens our society and absolves people of personal responsibility for their conduct so they can become celebrity victims. That cycle has nothing to do with courage, justice or any other virtue. We are a weaker society because of it.

Now swing back to guns.

Here in Quora, you have the good fortune to hear directly from a class of individuals who understand the honor of combat, whether in service to their communities or nation or in defense of their own personal dignity, property and life. You will find in them a comprehensive understanding of what is a fair fight under the rule of law and what rules of engagement are when the rule of law is lost. This is an education that our life experience has failed to teach many of us. I am fortunate to have learned this way of the world.

If you haven’t learned these levels of escalation, you most likely associate, like Hollywood films instruct, that the cleaning or racking the slide of a pistol is a sign of irrevocable deadly intent. All I can tell you is that it is nowhere near so simple. Just like cracking a book does not have the same impact on every individual, possessing a firearm does not either. A scholar can tell a scholar. A fighter can tell a fighter.

Whether or not people choose to acknowledge it, there is a sizeable fraction of this country that possesses the virtue of courage and the discipline to engage properly to insure justice and the wisdom to know how to escalate disputes under the rule of law. If these are all new phrases to you, then I suggest you find a way to educate yourself in such matters. Human disputes are inevitable. It’s not about the gun. It’s about the mind. Admit you’ve not thought about it.